Albert and Leopold digital ATC

Albert and Leopold digital ATC, a photo by Queen Be-Lynne Larkin on Flickr.

Working on some Digital ATC;s
Keeping my hand in. It is hard to judge what they would look like unless I print them since the computer makes them so big!

Digital ATC with Photoshop Elements

At Christmas 2009, I got a great gift-Photoshop Elements 8. I have been so intimidated by it, that it took me over 18 months to try to use it. My Teenage son offered to help me as like all teens he has an innate knowledge of all things computer. Saturday night he gave me a lesson on layers and I got some elements fromDeviantScrap.com and set to work. After a little bit I tested some skills in making my own elements from pictures in my files and came up with a couple of my own!!Here is the result of those lessons

I made these 4 Digital Collage Yesterday and even though it took me hours due to my inexperience, and I had to keep the huge manual I bought next to me the entire time, I had a great time shifting things around and resizing them, etc. I am so excited to be able to do this, even in the most basic way!!

My weeks have been flying by and I have been busy with lots of cut and past ATC's. Trading with some very talented artists. I am always happy to see Laura, our postal carrier, but especially when she has a bunch of envies with ATC's in them. I love to trade so, any ATC'ers who read this, check out my flickr page and see if there is anything you might want to swap for.

LOOK here on Flickr to see my current cards and other art.

Lastly, please leave comments as I can see lots of hits on my counter, but never know who has been here. Just say hi.

Well, Go Make ART--digital or otherwise.

Lynne

Late night ramblings

I have recently gotten my days and nights mixed up. Sleeping off and on during the day and up late at night reading or "arting" or surfing the internet (hooked on Ancestry.com, at the moment) or playing Farmville on Facebook. Today was no different. I finished reading"Wolfe Hall", my second book this year about Henry VIII-actually this was about Thomas Cromwell, who was his Advisor.

Completely different view on that era from the last book I read-The Autobiography of HenryVIII.

I noticed yesterday that the Tulips are pushing up in the flowerbed by our driveway, so I imagine if I look the crocus and hyacinth are probably in there too. Are you getting claustrophobic like I am, I am looking forward to opening windows and taking walks. Warm breezes and SUN.

I am posting a few cards I made recently. I hope you like them

Think I'll go off to bed now--so you --GO MAKE ART

Lynne

March Madness

I can hardly believe it is March already. I am so looking forward to warmer weather, but looking outside today,was not encouraging. It was and still is snowing! My saving grace is that I know spring is only a few weeks away.

Today, Saturday, I spent nearly the entire day in my little studio making ATC's. I decided to use only the scraps in my desk scrap box and I finished 7 cards in about 12 hours. Not bad for a dreary day. I am only going to post a few of the cards the rest you can see at my Flickr site

Yesterday I got my Spring issue of ATC Quarterly--The Only Magazine devoted exclusively to ATC's- and I was saddened to read that Rona will be ending publication after this year. If you do not subscribe or have never heard of this great little quarterly you should look it up at ATC Quarterly.com. While the magazine is small, it is so well edited and the articles are great. Lots of pictures and features on wonderful artists. Rona always has a call in for ATC's so Please check it out, before it disappears.

It is quite late so I think I will end my day with a bit of reading-Goal this year is to finish all the books I have started in the past and put aside for one reason or other. So far, I have finished three such books. only 2 more to go.)
Wish me luck
Lynne

I have a rotten cold!!

Yes, I have a rotten, crummy cold. Head cold, chest, cough. Have been taking OTC meds, and it is getting better. It is my first cold all winter so I guess I cannot complain, but I hate it. Did a little work on ATC's this week, also made a Steampunk/found object bracelet.

No, there are no bits of Kleenex stuck to those charms.

The Charms--I made about half the charms above, with "Stuff" I have collected over the years.
The vintage Bingo game counter, altered Scrabble tile, the broken Brownie Scout pin, the vintage Streetcar token, silver monopoly shoe, some parts of a broken necklace, etc. The rest I bought at the local Michaels Store, a brand call Industrial Chic( each card had at least 3 charms that I either used as is or altered in someway).
I am now excited to go Antiquing to see what I can find to use. Also I bid on a couple of Ebay auctions for vintage gumball charms...so can't wait to start the next one.

ATC's--Yes, I even managed to work on some ATC's.

Grrrr--I can't get these cards side by side.

Oh well. Both contain images from TumbleFish Studios collage sheets. I also worked on some cards from an Alphabet series I am doing using copies of vintage images that I am watercoloring, etc.

READING-I have been doing a lot of reading lately. Ususally late at night before bed. Right now I am on my 4th or 5th attempt at reading "The Autobiography of Henry VII with notes from His Fool, Will Sommers" by Margaret George. I have vowed to finish it and I think I will this time. It is huge and the type face is small, but the book has been on my bedside table for at least 2 years and I am tired of dusting it -:-).

Prior to Henry, I read a couple of Bill Brysons travel books and they were so funny and insightful, though I did get irritated with his USA book, as he disparaged Americans and small town America so much, it was no longer funny.

Well, Go Make ART!!!!!

Baby, I'm Back

Gosh, what a long dark and dry spell. I have had my ups and downs, and while reading blogs online this past year or so, I realize that many of my fellow artists suffer the same blue meanies that I sometimes get. Not a fun or creative place to be. Thank heaven for Celexa !

I spent 2010 reading up a storm, While I didn't keep count, I think I averaged a book a week, sometimes 2. I LOVE BOOKS, no Kindle for me!!
I also spent many hours with my Blythe dolls, on forums, sewing and trading, etc. And I love each and every little one, by the end of the year I felt an increasing urge to tidy my art table and look through my "stuff". A good sign that I was on the road back to ART.
On to a more Creative year-2011
I have spent the last two months making and trading ATC and I have in heaven. I also tried my hand at making some charms for necklaces and bracelets. It has been so much fun!!
Below are some of the cards I have made and Traded on ATC's for ALL (my main outlet for trading)

I also made a couple of 4x6 Postcard size collage using Tumble Fish Studio's collage sheet

I have a number of Cards in the works so check back again to see what I am up to.
and remember

MAKE ART!
XOX-Lynne

BRAGGIN'

I was featured in the Spring 2010 Issue of ATC Quarterly. My Card was the cover as well. I am so honored to be selected and Thank Ronna M, Editor for the great story.

LIVE TRADES

Above are the ATC's that I traded for last week. It was the April meeting of The Milwaukee ATC Live Trade and it met at a beautiful Scrapbook store in Greenfield, Wisconsin. The day was soooo rainy but that did not dampen the enthusiasm of the ATC artists who came to trade. I even managed a couple of extra trades. Our theme was altered photographs and the majority of the cards above are in that theme. It is always a surprise and pleasure to see how different the interpretation of the theme will be from artist to artist.

Big Changes!!

For quite some time I have been using a space in the basement for my Art space. I moved from our loft room because I hated having to put all my "Stuff" away when company was coming and there was not enough room to keep all my "Stuff" close at hand. So with the help of my husband Joe and the kiddies I schlepped all of my "Stuff" to the basement, along with my computer and printer,etc. and set up shop down there. I wrestled with the thought of moving back upstairs off and on all winter--that basement is COLD--but I found a space heater in the garage and finalized my decision to stay down there! Our basement is totally unfinished and we cannot afford major reno costs so Joe and I did the next best thing. IKEA--We used our meager carpentry skills to cover the staircase wall with faux beadboard panelling and the bookcases did the rest. Below are before and after pictures
BEFORE:

a

AFTER--

I am soooooooooooo HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As you can see I even have empty or near empty shelves!! There is so much space. I have shelves for my scrapbook paper, the corner is for my toys and dolls, My art books and ATC binders, embellishments, collage elements, paint and stamping stuff!!
I rearranged the way my table and computer were oriented and really like it.

ATC UPDATE--
MILWAUKEE LIVE ATC TRADE MARCH 21, 2009
On Saturday March 21, my Birthday twin Nina, the talented ObsessiveCreative, and I drove on up to Milwaukee for the Live ATC Trade. This month the trade was held at a really interesting store/gallery-Art'n Oddiites. About 25 traders showed up and it was great! The theme was I'm Game. The trade sessions went smoothly and I was able to score 24 trades. Nina and I had the best lunch at a nearby Gyro place prior to the meet up and we couldn't keep that a secret even with mints and gum--It was GOOD though.
BELOW ARE FEW PICTURES FROM THE MEET UP





NEWS FLASH
Starting on May 2, 2009 there will be a Live ATC Trade at the Dick Blick Art Materials store at the Danada Square Shopping Center in Wheaton, Illinois. The meet up will be from 3:30 to 7:30.
I believe there will be a creating session with some materials supplied by Dick Blick-Call the store to make sure-630-653-0569. Not sure what time the actual trade is starting but will post it when I find out. PS. Yours truly will be moderating the first trade session.
Have a great week and
MAKE ART

Milwaukee Live ATC Trade-Sat. Feb. 28, 2009

Saturday finally arrived--I was so excited to drive up to Milwaukee again for the ATC Live Trade.
My friend Nina and I left Joliet at a bit after 7 am in order to arrive in plenty of time for the 10 am meeting. There was ZERO traffic on the Expressway so we made awesome time, thanks to my "lead foot". I do not know how to drive slow-sorry ;-(
The meet up this month was at the wonderful Artist and Display (more about that later) .
There were close to 30 people who attended the Trade this month. Not all people traded cards, one or two had only a few cards as they were new to ATC's --I think everyone had a really fun time. It is always great to meet up with the artists who attend the Trade, everyone is so warm and welcoming. A special thank you to my friend Mel, for the great card. Also a BIG thank you not only to Artist and Display for allowing us to meet there, but to Carolyn Brady for her excellent job of Moderator .
I made 26 swaps and got AWESOME cards !! Below are some pictures of the swap
These pictures are the "chat "time prior to the swap


Below are some of the cards that go into the Pot Luck swap at the opening of the trade. Each person introduces themselves, tells a bit about their card
and it goes into a "pot" which then gets passed around a second time and each person draws
a card out--Then the Trade begins


This is a picture of my binder that I brought my Theme cards
and my other cards in to trade. Our theme was Black White and Red/read all over( see my previous post)

ARTIST AND DISPLAY--Paradise. The store has sooo much in it. If you are in or near Milwaukee and do any kind of ART or CRAFT or want to--go there. They have everything under the sun and are so kind and helpful and knowledgeable.
I found a GiNORMous selection of Pens and Markers, paints of all sorts, chalk and pastels--Love the PanPastels set I got there last month--so much so I bought more colors this time-is that bad? I also bought some of the most beautiful papers--etc., etc., etc. CHECK OUT THE LINK ABOVE---IT IS A MUST VISIT!!

New cards for Milwaukee

I can't believe I have actually got my cards ready for the Milwaukee Live trade and it isn't until Feb. 28th. I had been turning over ideas in my mind for several weeks and got stuck on newspaper since the theme is "Black, White and Red/Read all over" . I finally settled on a tenative design for the card series -because I really do not like making 18 plus cards all the same- and Saturday I started out to put them together. Below is a sampling of the cards. I did end up making a few of the versions in 2's and 3's as I liked them more than others.





Check out my flickr site to see all of the cards in the series-- GypsyArt. Along with those cards are some of my newer cards and a couple of small canvas collage that I recently completed in a series called "The Secret Life of Birds".
Gotta go--til next time
GO MAKE ART!!
Lynne